New Life
by Whattheydonttellus
Summary: Blake begins her new life at a new school with a few challenges, but with Yang, Weiss, Ruby, and Velvet's help, she'll be just fine. The hate of the Faunus race grows, even at school, but it's something they'll have to cope with. Moral and physical challenges will arise, but life doesn't slow down to let you catch your breath. College (real world) AU. Rating may go up to M for sex.
1. Chapter 1: New Girl

New Life

Real World AU  
Chapter 1: New Girl  
Blake pushed the large, blue, metal double doors open. Stepping inside, she was taken aback by the sea of students before her. The  
faunus girl looked around, looking for some kind of 'landmark' that could help guide her to her assigned locker.

It was Blake Belladonna's first day at Beacon Academy, a very large and prestigious school, it was in fact, one of top ranking schools in the state, and that was truly saying something. Blake had moved around quite a lot during high school and over the summer, only several days before had she arrived in Vale, the incredible metropolis blanketed in skyscrapers, office buildings, apartments, and several million people.

The dark haired girl took one tiny step into the mob of students and was imediatly pushed back be a tall, musculer boy who didn't seem to notice her. She was thrown off balance but managed to stay on her feet. It quickly became apparent that this was going to be a challenge.

"The trick is to time it right." A girl's voice came from right behind Blake. "Watch and learn." The voice was then given a body when a short redheaded girl stepped forward and faced the terrifyingly large crowd, the mysterious girl, however, was unfazed. Her eyes darted left and right, rapidly catching a glimpse of each area, searching for a gap to squeeze into. Finally, she found her mark and jumped right in between two boys at the edge of the pack, then proceeding from there, to a rather dramatic display of dodging and weaving all around the wide hall, slithering like a snake between each person. Eventually she reached the opposite side of the hall and stepped into a classroom.

Watching this rather impressive display, Blake decided to take a shot at it herself. Eyeing the large crowd, the faunus waited for an opening, once she found a gap, she ran for it. The people behind her forced the freshman forward, the current dragging her in the opposite direction of where she intended to go, so she quickly scooted sideways into a group that was moving towards the next hallway so she jumped in. This huddle took her just outside of where she was headed, but was close enough to push through.

Finally she was out of the packed entrance and into a noticably more open corridor, which would lead her to locker. Twenty people, more or less, walked the hallway that stretched about thirty meters from the entrance to a large staircase at the far end. Blake was relieved to see that there were fewer people in this wing of the building. She pulled a tiny peice of of paper from her pocket and read it, "1437."

The faunus walked along the wall of lockers until she reached the metal compartment assigned to her. "Fourteen thirty five, fourteen thirty six, here it is, fourteen thirty seven."

Blake remembered the unlock code and turned the padlock accordingly. The metal door swung open, allowing Blake to place several books, notebooks, and other school supplies inside. Just as she pushed the locker door shut, her watch went berserk, the loud beeping sounding off repetitively right next to her ear. It was her 'time for class' alarm. "Shit, I'm gona be late." Blake cursed before tightening the bow concealing her faunus ears and taking off to her first class she tiptoed in as quietly as she could, the front door was at the back of the large room, and the teacher was distracted with his lecture, so she went unnoticed. She found an empty seat and sat down next to a short, redheaded girl.

"Hey, new girl." The redhead was the sane girl from earlier, the one that showed Blake the art of 'hallway trecking.'

"Oh, hey."

"Did you get where you were going?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Great. I'm Ruby."

"Blake."

"Well, Blake, if you ever need help finding your way around campus, just ask me."

"Thanks, I have a feeling I'm going to need it." The class lasted about an hour before the lecture ended and the students flowed out of the room.

As the day dragged on, Blake walked from one class to the next, talking to few people. Eventually, Blake's lunch hour arrived. There were several places to get food on campus, so Blake chose the one where she saw the most faunus, eating there would provide her a level of protection from human bullying and discrimination that were all too common. She walked inside the glass building and turned to the woman standing behind a wooden counter. Blake took a second to observe the plaque printed with all the food options available, seeing that it was mostly meat, she could see why this was a popular faunus hangout.

Blake asked for the first thing that looked good.

"Ten fifty." The woman behind the counter said. Fourteen dollars was a ridicules price for some fish between two pieces of bread, but she still reached in her pocket for the money, regardless.

"I only have a five." Blake searched her pocket for some more cash, but came up empty handed.

"Next customer." Suddenly a white haired girl behind Blake stepped up.

"Here." The girl handed the cashier a five dollar bill acompanied by several coins. Blake grabbed the sandwich abd of line.

"Thanks, you didn't have to do that."

"It's fine. I was trying to get rid of that spare change anyway." The girl had seemed reluctant to give the money to this stranger, like something had made her do it. "I'm Weiss, by the way."

"Blake."

"I'll see you around, I have to deal with something." Weiss looked over her shoulder to find a redhead and a blonde playing with their food. "God, they are so immature."

Blake looked around, there weren't any open tables, the place was packed. "Is that Ruby?"

"You know her?"

"Kind of." Suddenly the very girl of which they spoke took notice of them.

"Hey Blake!" Ruby called out. "Come sit with us!"

"Do you mind?" Blake asked Weiss.

"I suppose not." Both girls walked to the table in the center of the room and sat down.

"Hey new girl." Ruby said, her voice as perky and cheerful as always.

"Hi."

"Who's this, sis? Girlfriend?" The blonde asked.

"No!" Blake and Ruby said in unison.

"I'm just messing with ya." The tall girl had golden-yellow hair that flowed down all the way to her lower back.

"You know I only dated that one girl." The taller student knew this well, but still felt the need to tease her over it. "Besides, what do you have against lesbians?"

"Alright, alright, don't go all defensive on me." The girl laughed. "So who is she, anyway?"

"This is Blake, she's new."

"Blake, where have I heard that name before?" She stared off into space, deep in thought. "Oh yeah, we're roommates!"


	2. Chapter 2: New Hardships

**A/N: Please leave a review, chapters will be released fasted with more feedback of the previous.**

Chapter 2: New Hardships

The faunus wondered what she meant by that, then remembered she had only been in her dormitory for about ten minutes since her arrival at Beacon, and when she was there, the room was clearly already occupied, but nobody was there.

"I'm Yang, we'll be living together until graduation." Yang was clearly enthusiastic about having somebody to share her apartment with.

"You sound excited."

"I haven't had a roommate since the beginning of the year."

"Oh, ok."

"You said 'sis' when you were talking to Ruby..."

"We're sisters, if it wasn't obvious." Yang joked, knowing they looked so different that one would never suspect any blood relation between the two. "Well we're half sisters. Same dad, different moms."

"So, Blake, what's your story?"

"There isn't much to tell."

"Oh come on, I'm sure there's something interesting somewhere along the line."

"Well I've lived all over Remnant."

"_Ooo_, what cities?"

"I lived in Mistral a few years ago, then I moved to Tamaris, Moorviah, Polaris, and a few days ago, I came to Vale."

"Cool, Yang and I haven't even left the state. I've always wanted to see the world."

The hour past quickly, and the girls, of course had to return to their classes. Yang walked into her math class alone, it was a lower level class meant for high school seniors and juniors. It was humiliating to be placed in this class to begin with, but to be doing as poorly as she was made her feel like she had some kind of brain dysfunction, which was demoralizing. She had tried not to be seen entering or leaving the class, but her efforts were in vain as some of her friends had already spotted her, some of them teasing her for it.

Yang sat in the very small class, only twenty people were present. She tried despirately to pay attention and learn the material, but it was so mindnumbingly boring that she eventually just started drawing in her notebook. By the time the class was over, Yang had created a rather impressive portrait of a dog she passed earlier that day. The teacher dismissed everyone, letting them leave the confines of small, whitewashed room.

Yang pulled her duster on over the yellow t-shirt and walked out, looking down to make her face a little bit less recognizable. Once she was a good distance from her class of embarrassment she picked her head back up and walked a bit more casually to her dormitory.

The blonde pushed open the door of dorm B-thirtyfive to find Blake Belladona laying on the couch, her nose buried in a hardback book.

"Blake, you should know the rule, leave a sock on the door if you get under the covers with something that hard." Yang found her own joke to be quite hysterical.

"Hilarious," Blake said sarcastically, not looking up from her book.

"So, do you not smile?"

"I'd love to chat, Yang, but I'm kind of reading."

"Right, sorry." That was the end of that. Yang walked off to the bedroom, the dorms were small, so they shared a set of bunkbeds. 'What's the point of a roommate who doesn't talk?' The blonde wondered to herself. Yang climbed up to the top bunk and stretched out.

Yang had nothing to do, the school soccer coach told the star player to keep rested for the weekend's game, so she couldn't do anything physical. Ruby was studying, she had a cramming to do for a biology test. There was Weiss, but she hardly seemed likely to want to hang out. All of the people she could think of were busy or off campus, thus she elected to roam the halls.

After several minutes of Wandering aimlessly, Yang heard a shrill cry from down the hall. Looking for some excitment, the pyro decided to investigate. When she rounded the corner, Yang discovered the source of the cry, a short, dark haired, fair skinned rabbit faunus. The girl's left ear was held tight by a tall young man who was laughing at her pain.

"Please let go, this hurts." The girl begged.

"You want me to let go? Alright, fine."

The boy pulled his captive back, the slammed her forwards into the wall.

"Ah!" The faunus hit the wall hard, the recoil knocked her onto the floor. She laid there, face down, completely still.

"What's wrong bunny ears? Get up."

"Hey, asshole!" Yang yelled.

"Look at that, bunny ears, your girlfriend came to save you." The boy turned to Yang. "Stay out of this, Blondey."

"Why? Afraid I'll kick your ass?"

"Come over here and find out." Yang gladly obliged. She charged in, pulling a fist back, then letting it fly. The girl felt a satisfying crack as she punched the boy in the side of his jaw. There was little effect, however, as the bully quickly recovered and sent a counter attack back at her. The throw was sloppy and Yang easily dodged it. One after the other, the brawler landed hits all over the boy's face, chest, and stomach, knocking him back a few meters. With a final blow, Yang put the boy on his ass.

The bully scoffed as he picked himself up and walking away, knowing he couldnt win. Once he was out of sight, Yang dropped to the girl and tapped her shoulder.

"Are you ok?" The girl groaned in response. The voice along with a closer look at the girl's face when she rolled over revealed thay it was a certain softmore that Yang had not spoken to in a long time. Her name was Velvet. "Hey, can you here me?"

"Yeah, I think I'll be fine." There was a large, dripping cut under her left eye, her nose was running red liquid as well.

"You're bleeding, you should get cleaned up. Where's your room?"

"I'm actually in building A."

"Mine is just down the hall. I'll get something to stop the bleeding." The girls walked down the hall, Velvet leaning on her friend the whole way. Yang sat the faunus down in a chair, then walked to the kitchen and grabbed a bag of ice. Velvet winced at the sudden coldness on her face, but Yang's gentle touch felt good.

"What happened?" Blake asked, walking out of her room.

"Some guy named Cardin. He hates faunus and bullies everyone, you together the rest. Can you get a towel or something?"

"Sure." Yang put a hand on Velvet's face to get a better look at the would, but the brunette flinched.

"It's alright, Velvet, I'm not gona hurt you."

"I know, I'm sorry."

Yang placed three fingers under Velvet's chin to lift up her face to the light. After close examination, she concluded that the wound would definitelt scar, it may be there for a very long time, but it would heal. "You should be fine, we just need to clean you up."

"Ok. Thanks, Yang, for saving me back there."

"Don't sweat it, you would have samd thing for me." And Velvet would have, gladly, for her old and dear friend. The conversation was cut off abruptly when the front door swung open, and a frantically pacing redhead walked in having a nervous breakdown.

"Yang! I need your help, now."

"Ugh, I can't solve this entire campus' problems."

"This is now time for jokes. Weiss is angry."

"Weiss is mad? Stop the presses, alert the president!" The older sister said sarcastically.

"No, this isn't her normal pissed off, this is real pissed off."

"Listen, Ruby, I'm sure you two can work it out, but right now, I'm a bit busy." Yang took the gaws and roller bandage that Blake had passed to her. She folded the pad, then placed it along the long cut, and keeping it in place by wrapping the roller bandage all the way around the other girl's head, covering the eye over the scratch to prevent further damage, and trailing just over the other eye.

"Oh god! Velvet what happened?" Ruby covered her mouth in shock.

"Ruby, I'm fine." Velvet looked up with a reassuring smile.

"It wasn't that jerk, Cardin, again. Was it?"

"Maybe." The faunus looked back down at the floor.

"Velvet, please tell me if something is wrong."

"Sorry if I don't trust you anymore."

"You're still mad about that?"

"You humiliated me in front of everyone at Signal! That isn't something I can just forget." Velvet couldn't remember the last time she had raised her voice like that. The brunette was so soft spoken and shy, people typically had step close to her in order to hear.

"I told you it wasn't my fault."

"If you had just let me keep my ears down, nobody would have know I'm a faunus."

"Both of you stop," Yang commanded, silencing the room. "This isn't a good time to be argueing with Velvet, Ruby. And Velvet, you should at least try to forgive her. Besides us, no one at this school went to Signal High while we were there."

There was a long, awkward silence.

"I guess I could let it go," Velvet said, being the first to break through the unsettling quiet.

"Let it go? You should be apologizing!"

Velvet suddenly felt a drop of blood land in her lap. Her excelerated heart rate had caused the blood to flow out of her wound faster than the bandages could absorb it. Yang quickly stopped the flow with a few more layers of cloth.

"What do I have to be sorry for?"

"You-"

"Enough!" Yang demanded for a second time. "If you guys are going to be like this, wait until I'm finished."

Velvet sank back into her chair and let her friend patch up the marks. Ruby waited silently by the door for her sister to finish playing doctor.

"Just leave the bandage on for a day, take it off tomorrow after last class."

"Right. Thanks." Two words, and Velvet was gone.


	3. Chapter 3: New Interests

**A/N: Readers, please leave a review, let me know what I can do better, and PM me any story ideas you have. The more reviews posted, the faster the chapters are released.**

Chapter 3: New Interests

"What was that all about?" Blake asked in a hushed tone, wishing not for Ruby, who was still waiting by the door, to overhear.

"I guess if you're gona join our little group, you'd find out eventually." Yang took a deep breath and turned to her new roommate. "Velvet and Ruby dated a few years back. They had a good thing going, they were happy together."

"But...," Blake inquired.

"But they got into a fight. They had argued before, but this fight was bigger than any they'd had. It was all over a misunderstanding, and I know they've moved on and still want to be friends, but just can't apologize."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Just don't bring it up around her, she might go ballistic on you." Yang gave a reassuring smile to let her friend know everything was alright. The blonde pushed off of the kitchen counter she had been leaning on and walked over to her little sister.

"Yang, can we talk?" The younger girl looked anxious, almost worried. She was twiddling her thumbs to keep her hands from shaking, and she was sweating, despite it being a cold November day.

"Yeah, Ruby." The brawler sensed her sister's nervousness and tried to brighten her up with a signature 'Yang Xiao Long cheering up smile.'

"It's about Weiss."

"What about her?"

"Well, it's actually more about me and her."

"Come on, spit it out."

Ruby turned around to make sure nobody was watching them or eavesdropping on the conversation, then shut the front door of the small apartment. The redhead hesitated for a long moment, then blurted out, "I'm in love with Weiss!"

"Ruby," Yang was taked aback by this; for her to be genuinly surprised by one of her sister's wild speaches was a weird occurance on its own.

"I don't know what to do." Ruby slumped down, her back against the door interior. "I want her to like me back." The young girl buried her face in her knees and pulled her legs in tightly to her chest. Yang's older sister mode kicked in as she got down on her knees and put a hand on the shorter girl's shoulder.

"Ruby, I know you can tell her how you feel, you've been in plenty of relationships."

"This is different. It isn't some stupid crush, or one date trial, I really love Weiss."

"I'm sure she feels the same way about you. Just let her know you're into her."

"But she's already dating that Neptune guy."

"Who cares? If it was meant to be, you two will end up together."

"And if it wasn't meant to be?"

"Then you'll find somebody else."

"That doesn't sound very reasuring."

"Sorry, sis, that's all I got."

Ruby stood up and left, not feeling much better than when she had arrived. She walked next door to the room she shared with her crush to find it void of life; Ruby didn't mind it, though, she wanted some time alone. The redhead plopped down on the couch and stared up at the ceiling. Her daydreaming of Weiss eventually turned into real dreaming after she nodded off in the dark apartment.

Several hours later, after the sun had already set and the snow begun to fall, Ruby awoke to the smell of tomato sauce over the stove and the sound of boiling water.

"Spaghetti?" Ruby sat up and scanned the room for the spurse lf the commotion. Obviously, dinner was being prepared in the kitchen, the only problem was that no one was preparing it.

"Ruby, you're awake," A familiar voice stated. "You looked like you were having quite the dream."

It was Weiss.

"Yeah." Ruby looked up to see the white haired heiress of Schnee Coal Company standing at the end of the red, leather couch.

"I need help in the kitchen. Could you come in and help if you aren't too busy napping."

"Oh, sure," Ruby said as she wiped the sleep from her eyes and stood to assist the older student.

"Turn off the burner, would you?" Weiss asked as she dug several ingrediants from the depths of the refrigerator. Ruby did as she was told, bringing the bubbling boil to a steaming simmer.

"Weiss, this is amazing!" The younger girl exclaimed as she tasted the red liquid in the saucepan.

"It's my mother's recipe," Simply speaking of her kin made Weiss cringe.

"It's definately a step up from Ramen Noodles every night."

"I suppose it is." They both laughed, glad to welcome the change in diet. They ate without talking, the only sounds in the air were Ruby's loud slurping and smacking and Weiss' quiet scoffs of disaproval. "Could you at least try and eat a little quieter?"

"You mean like this?" Ruby gathered as much of the pasta as she could fit on her fork and sucked it off with an obnoxious _sssslllluuuurrrrp_.

"You insuffrible..."

"You know you love it," Ruby said with a devious smile.

"Whatever you say," Weiss stopped when she heard a knock at the door.

"I got it." Ruby stood up, scraping her chair back on the hardwood floor. She pulled open the door and looked out into the hallway. "Hey, Juane."

"Hi, Ruby. Phyrra and I are going to a movie and I wanted to see if you and Weiss could come," The blond explained.

"Oh, sure-" Ruby looked down and realized that she was still wearing her Beacon uniform. "Right after I get changed." When they were ready, Ruby grabbed her read hooded cape and followed the others.

"Your sister has some serious relationship drama to work out," Blake stated.

Yang snickered. "You have no idea."

The blonde kicked back on the couch while the disguised faunus washed the dinner plates. "And what's with Weiss?"

"What do you mean?"

"What does your sister see in her? Her family extorts faunus laborers and keeps them under horrible conditions."

"Weiss isn't like that. I know she can be kind of a bitch, sometimes, but she tries hard to get away from the company's legacy." Yang loved that about Weiss. "What are you? Some faunus' rights activist?"

"I guess you could say that." Blake realized she was being too straight forward, and might give her faunus identity away. She had hoped for a single not share a room, this would make concealing her ears far easier.


	4. Chapter 4: New Game

Chapter Four: New Game

Yang walked into the locker room, her yellow jersey matched hair, her black soccer shorts akin to her jacket. The boys on the team eyed her backside when she turned away, but the blonde was never oblivious. She was the only girl on the Beacon Academy soccer team because there weren't enough females interested in making a new team and competing in the woman's league.

Yang was the star player, even though she was a freshman and smaller than most of her teammates. She had not been taken seriously as a member of the team, and was stuck on the bench for entire games at the time until a far superior team had a three point lead at the half. Both teams were completely caught off guard when she singlehandedly tied the score before the end. This same blonds freshman then dominated the penalty kick rounds, sending the opponents home in tears

"Yang, I want you playing hard. Three professional scouts are going to be watching you." Coach Oobleck informed the player.

"Really?" Yang asked excitedly.

"Of course. I expect you to make me proud."

The soccer player walked over to her locker and pulled from it a brown hairband and bit down on it. She got all of her hair between her hands and, with a little effort, put her mane in a single lock. She removed the elastic band from between her teeth and wrapped it several times around the hair behind her head, tightening it into a ponytail. After the last minute preparations, Yang walked onto the field. The game wasn't a big one, but the stands were full. The cheering was energizing, seeing her sister in the front with Weiss was great, but for some reason, the best feeling she felt was seeing Blake Belladona sitting next to Ruby.

Blake was not even paying attention, she was reading a book, but there was something about her presense that was... Happy. Yang took her place on the field as a forward and waited for the refferee to blow his whistle. When the deafening sound rang in Yang's ears she took off running for the ball.

Blake looked down at the pages of her book, it was impossible to focus with the incredible amount of noise. She could not believe she allowed Ruby to talk her into attending the game. The faunus finally gave up on trying to read after spending fifteen minutes staring at the paper without taking in a word of it. She looked at the field from time to time during the game, and while unable to tell exactly what was happening, Blake knew her roommate to be performing exceptionally.

"Let's go, Yang!" Ruby yelled.

"Ruby, I think I'm gonna go."

"C'mon, Blake. I know you don't know us or Yang very well, but she already thinks of you as a friend. It means a lot to her to have you here even if you don't watch."

"Sorry, but I have work to catch up on, soccer isn't my forte, anyway."

Blake walked down the row and up the steps to the exit of the large stadium, which was nothing more than an oversized set of bleachers around a soccer field. The cold of the figid air caused Blake's ears to twitch occasionally, the bow atop her head moving along with it. It was a long walk from the field to Apartment Building B; the faunus used the time to gather thoughts and compile the mental notes she had made about the school over the past few days. She was trying to remember the directions in the nearly empty walkway when she bumped into a short girl wearing a dark brown jacket.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I'm such a clutz," The girl said.

"It's alright. You're Velvet right?"

"Yeah, I remember you. Blake. Thanks for helping after the Cardin incident." The rabbit faunus was clearly having trouble speaking to Blake, she was always shy and sheepish so meeting new people like this was difficult.

"Don't mention it. People like him need to be put in their place." The very thought of an act such as that angered Blake, but seeing the scar on Velvet's face that hadn't cleared up one bit since the injury infuriated her. "I'm sorry about that cut."

"It's ok," She lied, "It wouldn't be the first one."

"What? This has happened beforer?"

"Several times. All my life I've dealt with this. I'm used to it now. Being a human must be nice."

"Velvet..."

"I need to go, I have a- a- a meeting." Her studdering made quite obvious that she was lying, but Blake chose not to pursue.

"If you ever get into trouble with someone like that again, tell me, please."

"Alright. Thanks."

Velvet continued her walk to the large, gray, single story building, across the top of which were the words, "Neurology and Psychoanalysis Department" in big letters. The rabbit faunus knew the title to be a euphamism for "mental therapy."

"Doctor Eberly?"

"Yes, Velvet, do come in and take a seat," The older man instructed. "How have you been."

"I don't mean to be rude, sir, but I'm really not in the mood for small talk."

"Very well, we will begin." The man was tall and scrawny, his hair gray despite the fact that he wasn't a day older than thirty five. "Have you had any changes in the feelings you talked about last week?"

"They're just getting worse and I can't shake them."

"Velvet, have you considered accepting these feelings?"

"I've told you the story." Velvet brought her knees up and hugged them against her chest, the tips of her shoes just barely hanging off the front of the chair. "Last time I did that, my high school life was ruined."

"You told me somebody you loved hurt you because you accepted your loving another woman, I haven't heard the full story."

"You won't tell anyone?"

"Not a word leaves this room, my dear."

"Well, it started in my junior year at Signal, this girl, a freshman, found out my secret. It was Ruby..."

**A/N: Big thanks to IAmAnonReviewer for revising the chapter. He was a huge help and was very understanding of my lack of English knowledge. And, you will probably see this next bit in a lot of the chapters to come, I am sorry it took so long for this one to get out, I got caught up in other stuff.**


	5. Chapter 5: New Feelings

**A/N: This chapter was fun to write, so please leave a review telling me if I should make more flashback chapters like this.**

* * *

New Feelings

Three years ago...

Velvet unzipped her hoodie and let it fall down around her arms. The long, brown, furry, rabbit ears that had been forced down into the jacket sprang up to the ceiling. She had had her ears slicked back all morning, and though painful, keeping them like that was better than the descrimination the faunus were experiencing. Stepping into the bathroom, the girl was able to release her extra appendages for a few minutes before her lunch period.

Velvet was no taller than five feet and three inches, but with the added height of the ears, she broke six and a half feet. Her faunus ability included excelent hearing and incredible agility, but beyond that there were hardly any pluses that she saw to come with her faunus heretage. At the time, all she thought about were the physically observable ups and downs of her life, but never what things like being a faunus really meant.

She looked in the mirror of the girl's bathroom. Her solitude quickly turned out to be false when in the reflection, standing behind the timid faunus, was Ruby Rose.

"Ah!" Velvet squeeked. "What are you doing in here, Ruby?"

"You have- on your head-" Ruby was baffled. Those ears were definitely real and definitely those of an animal.

"Please don't look." Velvet turned her back to the friend she had met but a month prior. The faunus girl was ashamed of herself both for her species and lying to one of the few friends she knew. The brunette dropped to her knees and began to cry as it was all she could think to do. "Don't look at me."

"You're a faunus... Why did you hide it?"

"Because the Faunus don't exactly have it easy at this school."

"Don't cry, Velvet."

"Just get the laughing over with and leave me alone."

"Laughing?"

"They always laugh, every time somebody finds out my little secret. Teasing, taunting, just do it so I can go back to being alone."

"Velvet..." Ruby knelt down and put a hand on Velvet's shoulder. "I don't know who did any of that to you, but I would never hurt you like that."

"Please go..."

Ruby threw her arms around the Faunus and pulled her into a "Yang Xiao Long signature bear hug" with enough force to crush bone. She pulled the petite upperclassman into her chest and told her that as long as she lived she would never leave her side. Though still a freshman, Ruby kept her promise the older girl from then on, almost to graduation.

"Hi, Ruby, I wanted to ask you out on a date... No, that's no good." Velvet practiced her line in the mirror. "Ruby, I have to ask you something. Would you like to go out sometime?" She pondered this one for a moment before deciding against it. "No." She though a bit harder. "Ruby, we have been friends for a while now, and I really want to be more than that- No, too pushy." Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Velvet?" It was Ruby's soft and sweet voice on the other side of the door.

"Just a minute!" Velvet called back. She quickly stepped out of the bathroom and ran to her room to put on the set of clothes she had laid out before her shower. She picked up the gray underwear, stepped into the bottom and put the bra over her small but well shaped breasts. She picked up the red and black plaid skirt that reached just past her knees and donned it over a pair of black stockings. She put on a tight, brown t-shirt and covered it with a black jacket. When she stuffed her long ears into the back of her shirt and covered her head with a baseball cap, she called out, "Ready."

The door creaked open revealing a short, fair skinned, dark haired girl in a less than formal sweatshirt and jeans. "Hi, Velvet. Sorry I'm late."

"It's alright, I wasn't even dressed when you showed up."

"I wouldn't have minded stepping in then," Ruby laughed.

"What?"

"Just kidding."

"You take too much after your sister."

"You love it."

'I love it and everything about you!' Velvet almost blurted, but stopped herself in time.

"Ready to go to Nora's party, Velvet?"

"Actually, I kind of thought we could do something else..."

"Like what?"

"Ruby, I- I need to tell you something."

"Shoot."

"I really li..."

"What?"

"I think I..."

"Velvet, I can't understand a word you're saying."

"I like you! Not like a friend, more than that!"

"You like me?"

"Yes. I admit it."

"I have wanted to hear you say that since the day we met." Ruby stepped forward and pulled her crush in. "I wanted to tell you, but I was too scared you would say no."

"I would never say no to you." Ruby despirately wanted to kiss the Faunus, but she knew that rushing things was a bad idea, especially with a girl as shy and timid as Velvet. Ruby and Velvet parted, the latter girl was just taller than the former, but not enough to tell unless they did a back-to-back comparison.

"So, what did you want to do tonight?"

Late into the night were the Faunus and Human girls wrapped up tightly together in a blanket. An old chick-flick was playing on the television, a forbidden romance that could not have possibly been more cheesy.

"But my love, must we part so soon?" Salvia beckoned to her lover.

"I am afraid so. I shall never forget you," Crusious replied. A tear fell from his eye as turned away from the woman. They were from two separate ninja clans and had been denied permission to meet. Salvia was a normal commoner, however Crusious' family was a lowly group of peasants looked down on by the other residents of the land because they were different.

"This has got to be the worst movie ever," Ruby exclaimed.

"I don't know. I kind of like it."

"Seriously?"

"The acting is awful and the screenwriting is atrocious, but something about seems... Familiar."

"I don't see it." Ruby let Velvet's head rest on her shoulder. They were holding hands and had their legs tangled together. The younger girl felt a soft-as-silk hand reach down her back and real ease the floppy rabbit ears. "I really wish you'd tell people who you really are."

"I told you already, not everyone in this world is as accepting and understanding as you are. Besides, I'm fine like I am. If I must hide my ears and tail to be happy, so be it."

"If you say- Wait, you have a _tail_?"

"Yes."

"Can I see it?"

"It's embarassing."

"I won't laugh."

"Promise?"

"I swear." Ruby raised her right hand as if she were taking an oath. The rabbit Faunus stood up and pushed down her skirt ever so slightly. A piece of what looked like cotton emerged from the base of her back. More of the cotton bowl slid out, when it the entire thing was showing it took the form of a fuzzy ball of plush. "Woah." Ruby reached out to touch it, but Velvet snapped up the skirt's waist before the younger girl could make contact.

"I told you it's embarrassing."

"I think it's cute."

"No you don't."

"Velvet, you're perfect. Your skin, your hair, your tail, everything is perfect."

The brunette could feel her face heat up as her cheeks turned a rosy pink hue. Ruby placed a light kiss on her crush's nose and whispered something in her ear that made Velvet's eyes shoot wide open.


	6. Chapter 6: New Dissapointment

New Disappointment

Yang peeled the polyester jersey off of her sweaty body and threw it down on her bunk. She looked over her shoulder to make sure the door was closed before stripping her shorts. She looked down at her body, the muscular yet feminine figure was extremely impressive. She had won the game, but all she could think of was the unexplained sadness that left a bitter taste in her mouth. The blonde didn't even know why she wanted so badly to cry over Blake's early departure from the soccer game.

"Why do I care about her so much? We just met," Yang pondered. "Forget it." She shook her head, "At least Ruby and Weiss showed." The usually cheerful girl told herself that the self-encouragement was helping, but all she really accomplished was unconvincingly lie to herself.

"Yang?" It was Blake's sweet voice behind the door. "You've been in there for thirty minutes, is everything alright?"

'She does care!' Yang shouted in her mind. She quickly regained her composure and calmly responded, "Yeah. I just, um... fell asleep for a few minutes." That made enough sense; Yang was happy enough with that lie. "I'll be right out."

Yang began to walk to the door, but right when she put her hand on the knob, the realization that she was still completely naked hit her in the face. She cursed herself as she slipped into a t-shirt and jean shorts. When she walked out into the living area of the dormitory, the blonde soccer player found her sister and Weiss sitting on the torn and beaten couch.

"Hey, guys. What are you doing here?"

"We came to find out what happened," Weiss said as if her answer were the most obvious thing in the world. "You left the game crying."

Yang remembered the tears flowing from earlier that day, each drop a sting to her heart. She was an emotional wreck after the game and she still had no clue as to why. She only knew Blake's premature departure had something to do with it.

"What's wrong, Yang?"

"Nothing, I just, uh-"

"Oh, cut the bullshit. Yang you can tell us anything." Ruby knew when her sister was lying. "Please let me know so I can help."

"I don't need help. It was all just... that time of the month." Again, the blonde was proud of the lie.

"First of all: that's disgusting. And second: if it were that time, there would be empty cups of chocolate pudding all over the floor. Yang, just tell me what's up." Damn, Ruby knew her too well.

Yang thought to herself, remembering how her little sister had always trusted her with any secret she kept or angst she felt, in fact, Yang was the first to know of Ruby's relationship with a certain brown-haired faunus girl. Ruby trusted her older sister with her life and she deserved to know.

"Ruby, Weiss, Blake," The blonde signed. "I was crying because the guy I was dating dumped me for some other chick." Yang let out a fake tear or two before her sister reached her arms around her.

"I'm sorry, Yang. I know Ren meant a lot to you." The elder sister listened to the calming voice and returned the embrace. The saddness she showed was not entirely fake; Lie Ren had, in fact, left Yang for a different girl, but that had taken place nearly a month prior. She admired the quiet boy very much, but they both knew, as sappy as it sounds, that it was not meant to be. When Ren met the readheaded girl across the hall, he was head over heels in love with the girl and Yang was willing to let him go.

"It's ok, I'm over it. You don't need to bash his skull in" Yang read her sister's mind.

"Fine..." Ruby's voice faded out before Weiss started talking.

"Yang, you don't have to hide things like that from us. We don't care that another guy dumped you."

"Another?" Yang questioned.

"Sorry, Yang, but it happens a lot."

"It does not!"

"They do kinda run and hide when they find out you put two football players in the hospital including your date on the second day of the school year," The shorter student added. "The upperclassmen even call you the Demon Date."

Yang felt insulted, but she understood the reasoning. Weiss halfheartedly hit her roommate's shoulder telling her that Yang was not supposed to know that little detail. Yang sat down on the couch and stared blankly out the window next to her; she sat like that for a long moment before sighing and saying, "Demon Date? Is that the best nickname they could think of?" She snickered and leaned back.

**********

Ruby ran at full speed to her math class. Her textbook labeled "Introduction to Calculus" was clutched tight in her arms. The massive hardback seemed heavier than the girl herself, and the fact that she could barely get it tucked under one arm without the other holding it from below did not make her look any bigger in comparison.

She moved quickly, dodging and maneuvering around other students with the expert precision she had demonstrated for Blake several days prior. She grazed a person or two before finally getting knocked to ground with a crash. "Oh, crap. I'm so sorry- Yang?"

"Ruby, didn't your teachers ever tell you not to run in the hall?" Yang, who was also on the floor, asked sarcastically. Ruby looked around for her book until she spotted an upside-down, dark blue, hardback textbook. She reached out, picked it up, and wrapped it her arms. Ruby stood back up, told her sister goodbye, and continued on to her next class. The short, fair skinned girl arrived at the massive expanse known to the students only as the "freshman's graveyard." While its official label reads "Math Room 1249," the vast ocean of small, foldable desks was each year designated Professor Goodwitch's.

Beacon Academy had but five math instructors for a relatively large student body. Goodwitch had been granted seniority over the majority of the faculty after nearly fifteen years working her career. The tiny woman dressed modestly, wore glasses, and somehow managed to maintain her reputation as the most horrifying woman alive. She reigned strict and cruel enough to strike fear into the eyes of other teachers. Ruby once overslept and missed the beginning of class by no more than ten seconds and was locked out for the entirety of the day's lesson.

Ruby slipped through the crack in the shutting door and tripped over her professor. The young redhead hit the tile floor with a thud for the second time in ten minuted, earning her an embarrassing laugh from those sitting in their seats. She picked herself up off the ground and apologized to Goodwitch.

"You made it, Ruby. Just two seconds to spare," The blonde woman said, punctual as always. "Take a seat."

"Yes ma'am." Ruby followed the order with a face as red as a tomato. Goodwitch began the lecture with Taylor's Theorem.

"If you will all open your textbooks to page three forty two..." Ruby did so, but rather than Taylor's Theorem, she found an explanation of Rational Terms, a subject far below her grade level.

"The hell?" She checked the cover and read the words, "Algebra II." She must have grabbed Yang's book by mistake when she fell, but only raised more questions. What explanation could stand Yang holding an Algebra two book? This would require investigation, but now she needed to find her real book.

A/N: I know Yang was out of character with all of the lying, but from now on I will try and keep her closer to canon.

In other news, I am looking for anyone who wants their OC to show up with a minor roll; just PM me characteristics, appearance, bio, and personality.


	7. Chapter 7: New Cowardice

A/N: Thanks to all loyal readers and reviewers. I am still taking OCs to appear as minor characters. Story ideas and helpful criticism welcome as always.

Chapter Seven: New Cowardice

"Son of a bitch," Weiss cursed the kitchen knife as she dropped it. The stainless steel blade clattered on the table. a gash oozed red liquid from the heiress' left index finger, staining her skin a deep crimson; she rushed for a paper towel and wrapped it around the wound.

"What's wrong?" Weiss' roommate called from the bedroom.

"This damned cutlery. It's so dull that it crushes everything I try to slice except my hand," The white haired girl complained. She run her bloodied digit under the sink and let out a sigh from the pain relief that the cold liquid brought upon her. "This is the second time this week."

"Are you alright?" Ruby grew worried; her love was hurt, and the underage freshman saw aiding her damsel in distress as her duty. She walked into the kitchen to find a bleeding heiress in obvious need of stitches. "Should I take you to the doctor or something?"

"No, I'm fine." Much like Yang, the young girl knew when Weiss attempted deception.

"Weiss, this looks really bad." Ruby took her friend's hand in her own and examined the nicked finger. "I really think you need to get this patched up."

"I said I'm fine."

"And I said you need a doctor."

"No-"

"Damn it, Weiss, I'm taking you to the C.D. whether you like it or not," Ruby snapped. The older girl was taken aback by the outburst and accepted her roommate's offer to take her to the campus doctor. Ruby grabbed several extra paper cloths to add to the makeshift bandage during the long walk and ushered her friend out the door. The medical professional that lived on campus' office sat as close to the student dorms as it could. Unfortunately, Weis and Ruby lived in Building A: the flat on the far outskirt of the dorm blocks, meaning roughly a kilometer from the campus doctor.

By the time the pair arrived at the sanitized building of bleach white, Weiss already felt lightheaded. The doctor, doing nothing at the moment, immediately brought the young heiress inside and into his office. He laced a line of thread down the length of the cut and clipped the string.

"It was a nasty cut, all the way down to the bone. Five stitches were enough. The sutures will be gone in about two or three weeks, if they break or the cut reopens, just come back in," The doctor instructed.

"Thanks."

"And one more thing, Ms. Schnee, if you need to use your 'safe haven...'"

"Of course not."

"All right then."

Weiss and Ruby stepped outside and began the trek back to their dorm. "You want to tell me what's up?" Ruby inquired.

"What do you mean? The giant slice in my hand?"

"Not wanting to go to the C.D., and damn near fighting me over it."

"I just didn't think I needed to waist the time."

"First Yang, now you, huh? Why are you guys acting weird?"

"I'm not acting weird, I just..."

"Just what? Didn't want anyone to think you're weak?"

"What are you-"

"I saw the email from your sister."

"Why the hell were you looking through my email?"

"Sorry, I saw it over your shoulder, but just bits and pieces. How she called you weak for running away to come here."

"You saw all that?" Weiss tried her best to appear furious, but she simply couldn't find the anger within... at least, no anger for Ruby. "Winter is pretty pissed that I left the family plan involving my going to school in Atlas City. If I had stuck to her meticulous scheduling, she wouldn't think me a coward."

"A coward? Why would she say that?"

"If I stayed at Atlesian Acadmy, I would be given a large portion of the Schnee Oil Company's stocks, and would one day take over. Winter thought I was running away from that burden with my tail between my legs by coming to Beacon... that... that I was weak."

"And you believed her after that email."

"Yes." The older girl, always so proud, allowed her head to hang low. "I didn't want you to think that as well."

"And you call _me_ a dolt."

"What?"

"You think I would see you as a coward? That has to be the stupidest thing you have ever said. You are strong, brave, smart, and beautiful. Anyone who thinks differently can screw themselves."

"Th-thanks, Ruby."

"Are you crying?"

Weiss lifter her head up a bit, revealing a slow, but steady stream of salty tears dripping down the heiress' cheeks. Ruby wiped them away and took Weiss' hands in her own once again. The shorter Ruby stood up on her toes and kissed her roommate's cheek, which only brought forth a flinch.

"Ruby..."

"I'm so sorry, I-"

"Shut up, you dolt." Weiss placed both hands on her friend's shoulders and pulled her in to kiss her back, but this time, delicately on Ruby's lips. The dark haired student's eyes shot wide open in shock, but she was calmed by the gentle strokes of her hair brought forth by her companion. The kiss, in the middle of the walkway and frigid air, drew some attention; passersby took notice of the girls as lesbianism was somewhat frowned upon, especially here in southern remnant.

Ruby remained on her toes until she broke the kiss, "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that."

"You earned it." The roommates returned to their apartment hand in hand, smiles on their faces.

"So what are we now? Still roommates? Girlfriends?" Ruby asked, closing the door behind her. She sat next to her friend on the couch and rested her head on Weiss' shoulder.

"Maybe."

"Well, I am going to make that 'maybe' a definitely.'" Ruby pulled down her hood and knelt in front of her 'maybe girlfriend.' "Will you go out with me tonight?"

"If it will get you to quit pestering me."

The knelt girl jumped up and practically strangled Weiss by stealing her sister's bear hug.

"You are such a child."

* * *

**A/N: I wasn't too happy with this chapter but I needed to get something posted.**


	8. Chapter 8: New Assault

**A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I will try harder to post more in the future. Review if you want more frequent updates as I work on whatever seems the most popular.**

* * *

Chapter Eight: New Assault

"I still have another week with these accursed sutures." Weiss showed off her stitched finger to Yang and Blake. "Before I left, the doctor thought I was on drugs or something. He asked if I needed to use my Safe Haven."

"Your what?" Blake inquired.

"Safe Haven." The blonde answered. "If you're hammered, stoned, or fucked up from just about anything, you can use a Safe Haven to go to the campus doctor without getting in trouble."

"How many can you use?"

"One."

"A year?"

"Your entire college career. Almost everyone saves it until their senior year, but a few idiots waste it after their first party. That guy across the hall, Juane, blew his after he downed a shot of Señor Tequila."

"_You made him_ down a shot of Señor Tequila. Poor guy tossed up everything in his stomach," Ruby corrected.

"The point is: don't use it."

"Okay. Sounds simple."

"What the-" Weiss stared at her phone, a news alert filling the screen. "Fort Ironwood was just attacked."

"The military base?"

"Yes. The White Fang blew up a piece of the wall."

The heiress tapped the video link and turned up the volume. A tall, fair-haired reporter stood in front of a yellow police line in the midst of a colossal herd of onlookers. She spoke into to black microphone with the news channel's logo printed on the handle. "Three improvised explosives were hurled from a car at the east wall of Fort Ironwood. Two faunus men were arrested after a chase, the other three were killed. An estimated thirty two thousand lien was done in property damage. Three soldiers were injured. Luckily, no troops were killed in the blast."

"Those bastards," Yang began. "They're the reason so many people hate the faunus."

Blake touched the bow concealing her ears. What would happen to her new friends discovered her secret, especially Yang? She knew she could never tell them about her race or her past.

"They used to be peaceful, but a lot of people left when morals were no longer a problem," Blake attempted to defend those like herself: former members of the group.

"But now they're killers and maniacs." Yang stood up and walked away, a scowl on her face. She dumped the remaining scraps of food in the black garbage bin before storming out of the building.

"What's wrong with her?"

"She has a friend at Fort Ironwood," Ruby answered. "She's just worried for him. Yang might look like she doesn't care now, but she's really protective of friends." The youngest student at the table told of Yang's standing up to a horde of older students who had been picking on Ruby.

"I believe it after how she protected that faunus girl."

"Velvet? When I first introduced her to Yang, she hid her ears. Yang didn't even flinch when she found out. I've never seen anyone so accepting."

* * *

Three years ago...

Ruby sprawled out on her back allowing the bright, green grass to tickle her exposed arms and legs. Her red t-shirt draped over her body loosely, appearing a size or two too big. Her jean shorts had holes and tears and begged to rid themselves of a thick layer of dirt. She closed her eyes as the rays of scorching sun over head drenched her with a glow of gold.

The sight of the younger girl left Velvet breathless. Her ears, for the first time in weeks, freely sat atop her head in the fresh air, perky and tall like a pair of redwoods. The wind blew softly through the brown fur along with her brunette hair. The faunus woRe a brown miniskirt over black tights; a white button-down under deep brown coat covered her torso.

The younger of the two girls laid her head down on her girlfriend's lap face up and eyes shut. Ruby had never been able to show her affection for the faunus, who more than deserved it, beyond the closed doors of their homes. Southern remnant possessed an extensive history of disdain for homosexuality. And Vale itself seemed to want to make the fact that faunus had little place in the state's society known. Velvet Scarlatina had been made fully aware of her low social status over the years, and only overcame it when she took on her human identity.

"I wish we could stay here longer. Five days isn't long enough," Ruby complained. They had just arrived in the Atlesian Mountains to spend the beginning of their summer vacation together. The couple stayed in a small mountain-side cabin situated nearly a hundred meters from that of Yang and her boyfriend, Fox.

"That would be nice, but my essay to get into Beacon is due in two weeks and I only have my name written on the paper."

"Beacon? But you still have another year at Signal." Ruby's expression saddened.

"College acceptance is a long process. You'll be doing it in a few years yourself, love." Velvet leaned back and rolled her jacket sleeves up; despite their sitting on a mountain, the August sun poured plenty of heat down to the Atlesian mountain range.

"Couldn't you at least go to college closer to home?"

"Beacon Academy is my dream school. You know that."

"But I'm too selfish to let you go!" Ruby leapt up and gripped her lover's arm tightly and clung there for dear life.

"Let go," Velvet laughed. "Don't make shove you off."

"I'd like to see you try."

Velvet used her free hand to lightly tickle at her lover's underarms, instantly freeing her from the aggressive embrace.

"That was below the belt."

"Hey, guys!" A peppy voice called from a fair distance away. "We're going into town to look around; are you two coming?" Yang stood at the edge of the small, grassy, mountain face.

"Yeah, we'll be right there," Ruby responded with a wave. She stood up and offered a hand to the rabbit Faunus at her feet. "Shall we?" Velvet accepted the chivalric offer and rose to her feet. The pair marched hand in hand to the edge to the downhill medow to Yang's parked convertible.

The drive into Columbia, an extremely tiny establishment just south and up a winding dirt road of Atlas City, lapsed over about twenty long minutes down "Serpant Road," accurately named for two reasons. Firstly for the dangerous amount of snakes and other (what Ruby called) "creepy crawlies" in the forest that bordered the narrow street. The second reason for the roller coaster of a road itself twisting, turning, dropping, and lurching every few seconds in a gut wrenching pattern. When the teenagers arrived in Columbia, Ruby dove out of the car, ready to vomit on the sidewalk. As Velvet held the sickly girl's long hair back behind her shoulders, Yang, who had driven down the gut wrenching trail, and her boyfriend Fox stepped out into the hundred square foot gravel parking lot which only held two parking spaces.

The flashy, red convertible sat in front of a wooden cottage designated "Tuskon's General Goods." The quaint shop had a rustic vibe and pealing paint. Upon entering, a large, beastly man happily greeted Yang and Fox.

"Hello and welcome to Tuskon's General Goods, I'm Tuskon. You kids must be visitors at the resort just up the mountain," the scraggly man deduced.

"That's right. How'd you know?" Yang inquired.

"There are literally less than a hundred people in Columbia, young lady. We take notice to people from out of town. So what brings you to Tuskon's?"

"For starters," the redhead began. "It's one of five stores on the mountain, and the only one that sells groceries."

"It's a brilliant marketing scheme, right?" Tuskon joked. As the couple walked through the store's five aisles, loading snacks, junk food, and frozen dinners in a metal basket, Velvet and Ruby entered. The black haired man with lots of hair all over his body and a notable set of sideburns gave his greeting speech and detected the shorter girl's illness. "Motion sickness, eh?"

"I'm afraid so," Velvet responded in place of her dazed lover.

"I've got just the thing." The hairy gentleman reached under the counter and plopped an orange box of dimenhydrinate based pills on the counter. "Half the visitors this town buy a box."

"I can see why," the motion sick girl managed to choke out before slapping a hand over her mouth and hunching over. The Faunus managed to catch Ruby before she feel on her face. Tuskon fumbled behind the counter for the trash can and slammed it on the floor under Ruby's green face.


	9. Chapter 9: New Hurdles

**A/N: Blake is a little bit out of character in this chapter, but only for plot purposes. In other news, I am running a somewhat similar story on Wattpad at** story/31962620-after-all-these-years?utm_source=widget&amp;utm_medium=link_copy

**And remember that the more reviews on a story gives that one priority for updating.**

* * *

Chapter Nine: New Hurdles

Yang read through the paragraph explaining linear systems four times before slamming the textbook shut in frustration and flopping on her back. "Fuck this. Why do I need to know this anyway?"

"Need to know what?" Blake inquired, walking into the room. She peered up at her roommate, who lied flat on the top bunk.

"Nothing." Yang discreetly slid her algebra two textbook under the covers. "Just some math stuff."

"You want some help? I've got all A's in pre-cal."

"No," Yang snapped quickly. "I mean, uh, I think I can figure it out myself. Besides, I'm sure you have a lot of homework too."

"It's fine, really. What do you need help with?"

"I said I can figure it out."

"Okay, okay. Do you at least mind if I study with you?" Blake didn't wait for an answer before popping up onto the top bunk, several books in hand. Upon taking her place at the foot of the mattress, the dark haired Faunus accidently knocked the concealed hardback off the bed and down to the floor. "Sorry. I'll grab it."

"No, don't-" Yang called out just too late. Her roommate dropped down and clutched the book in both hands.

"Yang? Why do you have an algebra two book?" The blonde returned the question with silence. "Is this Ruby's or something?"

"You'd think that." The agrivated brute stared out the window, refusing to make eye contact with the Faunus. "I guess I couldn't hide it forever." She finally brought herself to look Blake straight in the eyes. "I never finished algebra. In high school, I just barely scraped by. I'm lucky they didn't hold me back over it."

"But this school-"

"-Is for really smart kids. I'm only here on a sports scholarship because the school was disparate for good players. I know I'm idiot; I've gotten pretty good at hiding it."

"Please don't say that about yourself. You're really smart."

"I am a college freshman and I don't understand high school freshman math."

"Yang, last week, Beacon Academy's soccer team sent Mistral home in tears because you wrote half the play book. That takes serious brains. I know I couldn't that." Blake pulled herself back onto the bunk and took Yang's hands in her own. "Math may not be your strong suit, but you're still a really bright girl. On top of that, you have a million other qualities that would make any guy the luckiest in the world to have you."

'_Or girl... Wait. What?' _Blake thought to herself.

"Thanks Blake. I needed that." The fiery blonde wiped away a few tears which her roommate failed to notice. "You're not so bad yourself." Looking into the cat's golden eyes, Yang felt a strange feeling deep in her chest like an enjoyable smack from a hammer. "Hey, you want to do something tonight?

"Like a date?"

"What? No. Nothing like that. Of course not. I just meant that it's Friday evening and we could do something fun; maybe we go into the city and do a little sight seeing. I haven't gotten to see Vale much since I got here."

"That sounds fun and all, but I have a lot of homework-"

"You were going to help me with math, so don't try and get out of this. You always stay in the dorm, even on weekends."

"That doesn't really sound like my kind of-"

"I don't want to drag you out of this room, but I will if I have to."

"You won't," Blake stated sternly. Yang met this opposition with swift brutality. The blonde stepped to the floor and gripped her roommates leg tightly. She tugged hard. Blake's clawing and grabbing at the bed sheets proved futile attempts at remaining a loner as her body slid closer and closer to edge of the colorless bed. "No!" She shouted as the blonde ripped her from the mattress. The momentum, which Yang could not stop, carried both girls to the ground. They sat up in an awkward position with Blake sitting in her partner's lap whilst facing her. With her roommate now wrapped soundly in her arms, the brute glance over at the set of bunk beds and noticed a long, black ribbon snared on the metal frame of the higher bed. About that time, a pair of stiff, fuzzy objects tickled her cheek.

"Um, Blake?"

"Yeah?"

"Why do you have cat ears?"

Blake felt the top of her head to find the bow missing and her formerly concealed animal appendages exposed and brushing against the soccer player's face. After the sudden realization and clarification of the scenario, tears began to well up in the faunus' eyes. She tried desperately to hold back the oncoming water flow, another exorcise in futility.

"Please don't cry," Yang pleaded as the dam in her roommate's eyes shattered, allowing a river of tears and self-hate pour out like an avalanche. "Blake..." Seeing only one way to calm the girl down, Yang pressed her lips against those of the faunus gently, but noticeably. The stream down Blake's face came to a halt as she figured out what the blonde had done. She returned the kiss happily until Yang broke the contact. The faunus leaned in, hungry for more, but Yang had pulled away. Still on the floor and wrapping up a certain enigmatic, dark-haired loner, "It was the only way to make you stop crying."

"What? But I'm-"

"A faunus? I don't care." Yang smiled reassuringly. "You are flawless and no cute pair of cat ears changes that. The only thing about this that bothers me is your hiding it from me."

"Th- thanks Yang. I just thought-"

"That I hate faunus and wouldn't like you if I knew the truth. I've heard it all before. Trust me, by my side is the safest place in the world to take that bow off. Now come on, Blakey, we're going out whether you like it or not." And with that, Yang stood and helped her partner to her feet, The partner pair walked out to the Vale's downtown hand in hand.


End file.
